Livin' What You're Given

We live in a world where we are called upon to make choices on a daily and maybe even an hourly basis. During the last two years, we have all felt restrictions for our ability to make decisions. But even in the face of restrictions, there are still many decisions we can, should and will be making.

But sometimes our decisions are made on the basis of patterns established from various input sources. These may include childhood memories or teachings.

Join me as I open season two of Livin' What You're Given with a personal story about one of the messages I received as a young child about why I was not recognized by God. Having carried that message for many years, it was the love of Christian friends and a selfless mentor that helped me move into the reality that I am in fact loved and recognized by God. So are you.

Perhaps this story will strike a chord with one of the listeners out there too. Perhaps it will inspire a person to move toward unpacking the untrue messages and opening themselves to the true messages.

The website to connect with Laura Padgett is https://lauralpadgett.com

To reach out to Stephen Ray Watts, the musician performing "If You Only Knew" on this episode, he can be found at: https://dotseroband.com

In the second installment of this two-part interview, Annette (AJ) Spurr shares more gems from her book, "The Simple Joy of Seeing God." Those include some of the following high spots.
The anecdote for fear is focus on God and not our circumstances, according to AJ. She calling on the story of Peter stepping out of the boat and being able to walk on water until he switched his focus from Jesus to the fact that he was standing on nothing but water. She makes the point that people often refer to Peter as the guy who almost drowned by getting out of the boat. But she points out that maybe we need to look at him as the guy who actually stepped out of the boat.
We also discussed the importance of practicing transforming or renewing our minds by noticing the little things in life that can foster joy and gratitude. By using a gratitude journal, she was able to start seeing and reflect upon answered prayers - more things to be grateful for. Tracking answered prayers is a great way to practice gratitude.
She talks about the importance of not only practicing thanksgiving ourselves but training our children to say the secret passwords, "Thank You." She challenges us to remember that in order to be truly grateful we need to express thanks to the gift giver, especially God. This leads us to operating in God's economy and being a joyful giver.
To catch up with Annette, go to her website at https://seeinggod.com.au, where you will also find a link to her book. It also is available on Amazon.
To reach out to Stephen Ray Watts, the musician performing "The Perfect Gift" on this episode, go to https://dotseroband.com
The website to connect with Laura Padgett is https://lauralpadgett.com

Please note: This is a re-broadcast of an earlier episode that was taped and aired in 2021. The subject is domestic abuse, and because it is October (National Domestic Violence Awareness Month), I wanted to air this again. The topic follows my September episodes on bullying. Domestic abuse is in fact one of the most commonly seen areas of bullying because it relies upon the unequal power structure.
The dates and times mentioned in this episode are from September of 2021. But the message is one we need to hear often as it is not going away, and in some ways the problems are worse.
Karen DeArmond Gardner is an authentic voice in the area of domestic abuse, having lived thirty years in a marriage where her husband was verbally, emotionally and physically abusive. In this first of a two part interview, she shares what she learned, when she decided to leave but mostly how she, with the love of her family and relearning about the love of God, began her healing journey. Today she is living a life of freedom in a new marriage of eleven years, and is helping educate and advocate for those still living in intimate terrorism.
Karen tells of the defining moment when she realized she had had enough and that she needed to get out of the home. She helps us understand what domestic abuse or intimate terrorism really is, why we cannot always recognize it and in what ways the church and society fail women due to distorted doctrine and lack of resources. According to Karen, leaving is just the beginning and not the end of healing from the trauma of an abusive marital relationship.
Tune in as she candidly unpacks the truths, myths and processes in the traumatic time after making the decision to leave. She has written a book that she states is not a how to book. Rather it is a Biblical-based guide to rediscovering the love of God and relearning that He indeed loves us and can be trusted to keep His promises.
The Safe House – Your Safer Place app is on both IOS and Android.
Hope for Healing from Domestic Abuse: Reaching for God's Promise of Real Freedom by Karen DeArmond Gardner available at Amazon.com or on
Another One Free website https://anotheronefree.com
The website for Stephen Ray Watts and the band Dotsero https://dotseroband.com
The website to connect with Laura Padgett https://lauralpadgett.com

Do you ever feel you are in a rut? Today, my friend and fellow Christian podcaster, Jerry Dugan, joins me as we discuss the definition of being in a rut. As host of the podcast, "Beyond the Rut" Jerry helps us identify when we are in a rut and how to get out, and beyond it. He explains that being in a rut is doing the same activities day-after-day, week-after-week, and feeling unproductive. There's no passion or excitement in the rut. We are just sort of on autopilot. It usually starts with a gut feeling of just being stuck.
He tells us that we can count on being clueless when the rut is sneaking up on us. Calling on his own experience, he explains that in 2022 he knew his work was not going to be lasting or leave a legacy despite high salaried employment. When entering work, the following week, he saw that his life was going nowhere professionally and he didn't know he was in a rut until he came face-to-face with the toxicity of his work place. He began to evaluate his life and take steps to move out of the stagnation he felt in his work environment.
He asks us to evaluate our lives from five F's, and he explains what each one means.
Faith
Family
Fitness
Finances
Future growth
Jerry has a powerful and inspiring story that is based in authenticity. He encourages us to go forward out of the rut by identifying that we are in a rut, first of all, and understanding that we do have choices, even if they may seem a little scary. His experience of being unhappy and unproductive in his work situation is familiar and relatable for many of us.
Placing emphasis on his personal responsibility to get out of his rut, as well as listening to those closest to him, Jerry talks about the path he forged to go forward. He has changed his life and the lives of many others by his example. He encourages us to resist defining ourselves by our title or income in the workplace but rather by what we want to be known for. He reminds us that "Life is just too darn short to live stuck in a rut."
Jerry is very generous with his time and talents when it comes to helping others find their passions and purpose in life. He gives us some practical steps to address the five F's above and how to take steps to remedy areas where we are not feeling fulfilled.
To get a copy of Jerry's Book, "Beyond the Rut: Create a Life Worth Living in Your Faith, Family, and Career" go to Amazon at https://amzn.to/3LPykN4
Jerry is also offering this in audio book form for listeners of “Livin' What You're Given” for free at https://beyondtherut.com/audiobook
To check out Jerry Dugan's website go to https://beyondtherut.com/
To connect with Stephen Ray Watts from the band Dotsero Praise Fellowship go to https://dotseroband.com
The website to connect with Laura Padgett is https://lauralpadgett.com

Today we welcome The Drill Sergeant of Life, Beatrice Bruno, to help us understand how we sometimes get in our own way by practicing self-sabotage. Speaking from her own experience and from parts of her books based on letting go, letting God and getting what we want out of life, Beatrice is a refreshingly authentic voice that speaks truth into the idea that turning the tide begins with each of us.
Being in the U.S Army helped Beatrice in the area of discipline that was needed and still is needed to move into sticking to the tasks at hand until completion. She is a motivational speaker, prolific author and grief counselor. She shares the vision of going up a hill in the mountainous areas around her and seeing a vision of herself standing in her own way. God was clear in saying "You have to go around yourself in order to progress forward."
Encouraging others to find ways to progress beyond the messages of "you can't, you have never and you will never do that," she teaches us that sometimes we are more afraid of success than failure. She gives some practical steps that can guide us in the direction of getting over ourselves, fear of failure, and letting go of the P.A.S.T. (people, places, possibilities and situations that should be terminated).
She stresses the fact that sometimes we intentionally limit ourselves so that we do not succeed. That leads to a self-fulfilling prophesy that can restrict our forward progress and keep us stuck.
The two books we reference in this episode are called, "How to Get Over Yourself and Let Go of the P.A.S.T." and "How to Get Over Yourself, Get Out of Your Own Way, and Get What YOU Want Out of Life!"
Those are available, as well as many other books, resources and contact information at http://www.drillsergeantoflife.com
To check out San Juan Brews in Montrose, go to https://www.sanjuanbrews.com or https://www.facebook.com/sanjuanbrews
To catch up with Gabriel Tafoya, the composer, producer and performer of the song "The Pivot" on this episode, go to [email protected]
The website to connect with Laura Padgett is https://lauralpadgett.com